Electrified vehicles include hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Electrified vehicles include a traction battery to store energy to be used for propulsion and other purposes. The traction battery is configured to operate within a particular voltage range. However, propulsion and other loads of the vehicle may have improved performance when operated outside the particular voltage range; typically, this is at higher voltages than the traction battery. Many electrified vehicles include a variable voltage converter to convert the voltage of the traction battery to a voltage level desired by the electric machines.